Lycanthrope Love
by Sugar-Hype-Queen
Summary: Of being a werewolf, dealing with magicians, and finding what you need. All on a Friday. KakaIru.


**I've always been a fan of supernatural fics, so I wanted to take a violent stab in that direction. Not to say there's not something supernatural about summoning talking dogs or being possessed by a demon fox, but I wanted to "kick it old school," if you will. I wanted this to be done for Halloween… but I fail. If this story tickles your fancy in any kind of way, you'll want to read Whiskers Round the Moon, by **kita_the_spaz.

**Major props to my beta **Crock-fever** (you rock!) and a high five to my homie Jojo, aka **NoelleKamashi. **You crazy thing, you. While writing this I rocked out to **_**Gazette**_** and a remix of the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack, as well as some Animal Collective. I think I've said everything meaningful. May your November be full of love.**

oOo**  
**

stuff

_Iruka's thoughts_

oOo

Werewolves, also known as lycanthropes, are mythological or folkloric humans with the ability to shapeshift into wolves or wolf-like creatures

oOo

**LYCANTHROPE **LOVE**..................**LYCANTHROPE LOVE**...................**LYCANTHROPE** LOVE**

oOo

Iruka tapped his pencil against his desk and fought the urge to hum.

Golden bars of sunlight illuminated the classroom, shining like a benediction down on his students. They were in pairs. Each child was using standard Fire Country sign language to tell their partners a sentence, then switching roles. It was hard not to laugh at the awkward way their chubby little hands would mangle the letters, but he felt a huge swell of pride all the same.

He glanced at the clock, his mind wandering as the seconds ticked by. His package still hadn't arrived. It was slightly worrisome, but they'd been a little late before. As long as it arrived before the 31st, he'd be fine. Certainly three days was plenty of time for the thing to arrive? He tugged absently at his ponytail and continued drumming his pencil, the _tap tap tap_ of its point against the wooden surface carrying him into daydreams.

"Iruka sensei!"

"Yes, Hime-chan?"

The answer slipped past his lips almost before his name had completely left the child's lips. That shrill voice, that whiny tone- it had to be Hime. Iruka loved the girl to death, but he privately hoped offered his condolences to her future squad leaders for years to come. Hime, a small girl with a disproportionately loud voice, pointed an accusing finger at her partner, a scrawny little boy with pale hair. He scowled at her with all the grave bellicosity of a five year old.

"Tell Shinji he's _wrong_!" she demanded.

With a sigh, Iruka rose from his desk and strode over to the pair of children, sliding into Mediator Mode.

"Why is Shinji wrong, Hime-chan?" he asked.

"He hand-talked that it was-"

"Signed, Hime-chan."

"He _signed_," she amended, "That it's Tuesday, but it's not!"

"But it _is_ Tuesday," he said patiently.

Hime gawked.

"No it's not! Umi! Umi, isn't it Friday?"

Umi, a soft voiced little girl, nodded shyly.

"See?" exclaimed Hime, stomping her foot for emphasis, "It _is_ Friday!"

"B-but," floundered Iruka, "But- wait, _what_?"

How could it be Friday? It was supposed to be **Tuesday!** He couldn't possibly be that mixed up, could he? No. No, he _clearly_ remembered reading Tuesday on his planner-thingy. He scrambled back to his desk and tore through his bag until he found it- a gleaming new personal planner. He turned the little dial, switching the display screen to calendar mode. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 28 it read. He sighed with relief.

"Hime-chan, it's not Friday, see? Look."

The little girl trudged over, looked at the planner, then looked at her teacher.

"But sensei, that thing says it's 3:00 at night. Last year."

"WHAT?!"

He stared at the glowing little screen in shock. Hime was…right?!

"DA-_ahhharn!_ _Darn!_ Darn it!" he cried, rushing over to his desk and grabbing his things. "Crap! Darn it! BOYS AND GIRLS! CLASS IS DISMISSED!"

"But sensei, school doesn't end for thr-"

"Shut up, Rio!" "Yeah, don't you wanna leave?!"

"_DISMISSED, I SAID!_"

oOo

He ran home, painfully aware of the anxiety rooting itself into his gut. As he raced over the rooftops, his thoughts whirled in a hellish circle. What if he hadn't found out it was Friday? And- and since it was Friday- _what the hell was he going to do?_ Of all days for it to be late, it had to be today? Of all days-!

When he finally reached his apartment, he tore upon the door and slammed it shut behind him without a second thought. It was only when he tried to lock the door behind him did he realize he hadn't bothered with the key in the first place. The lock was now just a shiny ornament. _The_ _symptoms are showing already? _he thought, a vague wave of panic washing over him.

"Great. Just great," he muttered, "And now I've got to get the door fixed, too, just what I need!"

He leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath. _Okay_, he thought, _I can do this. I can. I am a rational adult_. He walked into his kitchen, picked up his phone, dialed the number, and waited. No one picked up. He tried again. He was halfway to a breakdown when the ringing stopped, and a hesitant voice spoke into the other end.

"H-hello?"

"Oh, thank goodness! I thought no one would ever answ-"

"You're a customer?"

Iruka paused.

"Uh, this _is_ Alistair's Olde Occult Shoppe, right?"

The voice sighed with relief, then gave a nervous chuckle.

Iruka felt his anxiety double.

"Listen," he began, "I probably caught you at a bad time, and I'd usually just call back, but this is an emergency. See, I haven't received my delivery, and I-"

"I know, sir. Terribly sorry, but- we've been robbed."

"_Robbed?_" exclaimed Iruka,_ "_Who the hell robs a magic shop?!"

"Magicians, sir."

"But- but I-"

"Sir, I'm sure this is horrible news for you, too, but until we know who's done this, we can't risk sending anybody to Konoha. We're targets, you understand."

"…How do you know I'm in Konoha?"

"Very few of our customers order Douglas's Deluxe Diluted Wolfsbane on a regular basis, and only one of them happens to be male."

There was a pause.

"That'd be _you_, by the way."

Iruka growled. The sound rumbled slowly from his chest, like something evil waking from slumber.

"….My apologies, sir. That was rude. If you can make it here, we'll be glad to provide you with what you need, free of charge. Just ask for Megumi."

"What's _your_ name?"

"Uh… sorry sir, static, breaking up and all that, ever so sorry for the inconvenience, farewell!"

Iruka dropped his phone into the hook with disdain, melancholia flooding through him. It was half a day's run to Goro Town, where the shop was located. The sun would go down in an hour. And seeing as it was- _that_ _day_- there'd be people everywhere. And who knew what kind of freaks were running around in the forest?

Not that he was any better.

"_Why?_" he moaned, letting his head thud onto the counter.

**Ding-dong!**

Iruka groaned and walked over to his door, dragging his feet. He opened it, scowling.

His neighbor, Maito Gai, grinned back at him.

"HAPPY HALLOWEEN, O YOUTHFUL IRUKA- SENSEI!"

Iruka blinked.

Then he slammed the door.

oOo

Humming had been too cheerful, and taken too much breath. His mind had taken to other distractions. For example:

_Gimme an __**M**__! Gimme an __**I**__! Gimme a __**SERY**__! What does that spell?_

"I hate everything," murmured Iruka, breath misting in the chilly air.

He was taking a back road through the forest instead of the highroad. His sense of smell was sharpening, and he'd caught scent of a few things he'd thought prudent to avoid, including but not limited to: the stale scent of old blood and grave dirt (who the hell had the nerve to summon zombies after what happened last year?), the heated musk of an angry mob, the sickly sweet odor of something brewing that, in his humble opinion, had no business brewing, a pack of wolves he'd never run into before and didn't want to risk angering, and, curiously enough, an overpowering aroma of _liquorice_.

He didn't quite know what to make of that one.

_Yeah… probably a good call staying off the highroad tonight_, he thought. The forest noises were distracting, though. The birds twittered in their nests, bugs were scratching under every log and hollow, and the leaves swayed and brushed against each other with a continuous _shuuush shuuush shuuush. _He was beginning to smell the rabbits, too, and the mice, and somewhere, about a mile away, there was a wounded buck, and if he ran fast enough…

…he could look forward to another Morning After spent vomiting the raw flesh of various game animals, promising himself 'Never again!'

_Gimme an __**M**__! _supplied his brain.

Suddenly, a firelike pain tore through his limbs, freezing him in his tracks. He stumbled. _Okay, _he thought,_ time to rest. _He flopped up against a tree.

The stark smell of the bark filled his nose. He let his eyes roam down the path, following the thin line of beaten earth through a darkening patchwork of shadows, the last of a crimson sunset filtering through leaves. He could just make out a stone bridge up ahead, flanked by two budding sakura trees.

The moon was rising, full and yellow in the sky.

Iruka gasped as another torrent of pain ripped through him, this time centered on his head and back. Had it been so long since the last time he'd done this? Or was it just that you never really get used to the pain? _A thousand little knives_, he thought dimly, _It feels like a thousand little goddamn knives._

He panted. The pain forced grunts and growls from his throat, made him thrash like a fish out of water against the leaves and dirt.

When he opened his eyes, he was on the ground.

Everything seemed clearer, and sound was flooding his ears and- and the _smells_!

He got up with a groan, one hand immediately rising up to rub his tender head. His hand brushed fur. Frowning, he felt his ears. They swiveled. _Wolf ears now_, he thought, _and I bet that was the tail coming in_. He reached back to confirm it- yep.

And the sucker had the nerve to wag.

It was a relief to note, however, that he'd only done a partial transformation, probably as a result of residual wolfsbane. It would certainly make going through town easier. _Especially_ if that angry mob was skulking around. He winced at the thought.

"Excuse me?"

"_**Raaaaaaggh-!" **_Iruka snarled, whirling around to bare newly-grown fangs.

"… Maybe I caught you at a bad time."

Iruka shook his head, his snarl quickly replaced with an embarrassed blush as he realized who he was talking to. Well, maybe not _who_, exactly, but _what_, sort of, which was a good place to start. And what he was talking to was a tallish man with wild mooncolored hair, offering him a sheepish smile.

Well, Iruka _guessed_ that was what it was. The stranger was wearing a dark mask that concealed the lower half of his face, leaving only his mismatched eyes visible. One was icy blue, and one was a deep scarlet, and… it was probably best if he stopped staring, because he'd already snarled at the man, and he liked to think he could only sink so low.

"I'm so sorry!" Iruka gushed, bowing, "That was incredibly rude of me, I just, I was…"

"Doing the whole werewolf thing?"

"I prefer the term _lycanthrope_," Iruka reproached.

"Ah. My apologies."

Iruka regarded the stranger a little more critically. He looked completely relaxed, eyes half lidded, slouching slightly in a comfortable looking scarlet shirt and wrinkled black pants. He smelled like leaves and water, darkness, stones, and… arousal? Iruka shook hiss head slightly. _Must be mistaken_, he thought.

"Uh, what do you say we try this again? My name is-"

"You're going to give me your name just like that?" interrupted the stranger, raising a silver brow at him. "You should know that's sensitive information."

Iruka rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me you're one of _that_ sort."

The man smirked.

"_That_ sort? Alright, now I see how the 'werewolf' thing can be an annoyance. My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I prefer the term magician."

Iruka blushed. _Why does he trust me, if he's a magician?_ he wondered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Hatake-san. My name is Umino Iruka, and I'm sure you're too much of a nice person to misuse it."

Kakashi grinned (or were his eyes just curving up like that?) and nodded. "The pleasure is all mine, Iruka." he replied (forgoing, Iruka noted with disapproval, any polite suffix). "Speaking of which, I heard some rather interesting sounds earlier. I wondered if I might be of assistance?"

"Interesting sounds?"

Iruka frowned, recalling his transformation earlier. He'd been panting, thrashing, and moaning… Hatake-san must've thought he was being attacked! His face lit up with a smile, appreciation rising in his eyes. And here he was beginning to doubt the man's character for forgoing any respectful suffix.

"You're very thoughtful, Hatake-san. I'm truly grateful for your concern, but I'm fine now."

Kakashi sighed and shook his head. "I'd feared as much."

Iruka rubbed guiltily at the back of his head. He really did appreciate the concern… And it was awfully decent of the man not to freak out at the sight of the ears and tail, magician or no. Something in Iruka's brain clicked. Kakashi was a _magician_! That meant- "I know how I can repay you!"

Kakashi perked up, eye curving into gleeful arcs. "_Do_ you now? In that case, we can go under the bridge, and-"

"What are you talking about, Hatake-san?" asked Iruka, rubbing his scar, bemused. "I was going to say I'm on my way to a magic shop in Goro, a _nice_ one, and I can probably get you anything you'd like, free of charge. It's the least I can do."

He paused, blushing. _Gah, why do I always ramble?_

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted. What were you saying about going under the bridge?"

"…Nothing."

"Oh. Well, uh, what do you say? We're not that far away from Goro, now…"

Kakashi shrugged, as if in surrender.

"You leave me no choice, I'm afraid. I couldn't possibly say no to such a pretty face."

"W-WHAT?" Iruka sputtered, "I-I- You- It's not very mature to tease people, Hatake-san!" _Not mature and __**not fair!**_

"_I'm_ a tease?" asked Kakashi, amusement evident in his voice.

Iruka rubbed furiously at his scar, ears flattening, tail swishing furiously.

"You're acting like one of my students," Iruka complained. "Can we just go to Goro now, Hatake-san?"

Kakashi smiled, eyes curving up into those joyful arcs once more.

"Students, hm? You're a teacher?"

He appraised Iruka with an indiscernible look. Iruka crossed his arms across his chest defensively.

"Yes, I'm a teacher. Is there a problem with that, O Great Magician Hatake-san?"

"No, no problem, sensei." Kakashi laughed, shaking his head. "We'll be on our way… just as soon as you call me Kakashi."

Iruka shook his head, mentally blaming the cold air for his deepening blush.

"I couldn't," he replied, "That'd be rude!"

Kakashi shrugged in deference, but something gleamed in his eyes. Iruka's ears flattened warily. _What's he up to?_

"Lead the way, then. And don't worry about your speed," he added, waving away Iruka's worried expression. "I assure you, I'll be on your tail the entire time."

Iruka raised a brow, tail swishing sharply with annoyance.

"Want to warn me before you start decking out any more horrible puns?"

"Maa… I think I'd rather keep you on your toes."

Iruka rolled his eyes, hoping it'd distract from the grin spreading across his face, and darted up the trunk of the large pine behind him to stand on a large branch, high in the air. He grinned down at the man, tail waving playfully.

"Still think you can keep up?" he called.

He vanished.

Iruka's grin was wiped away in an instant. He craned his neck and swiveled his ears, but the man was nowhere within sight, sound or smell. _Did I offend him?_ wondered Iruka, fighting off a growing sense of alarm._ I should have known a magician would be touchy! Egotistical bastards, the lot of them! _Iruka's ears drooped. Did he really just _leave_ like that? Or- or what if another magician attacked him!? A rogue magician- maybe the one that robbed Alistair's Olde Occult Shoppe! What if Hatake-san was in _**trouble**_?!

"Hatake-san?" he called, doing his best to keep the any trace of panic out of his voice, "Hatake-san, are you there? Hatake-san!"

Silence.

"**Kakashi?!**_"_

"Yes, Iruka?"

"_**GAH!"**_

Iruka flattened himself against the trees trunk. Standing before him, right there on the tree branch, was a perfectly relaxed Hatake Kakashi. Iruka growled, brown eyes narrowing with rage.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" he yelled, ears flattening, tail standing straight up as he jabbed an accusing finger at the magician, "And why'd you vanish like that? Was that your idea of a joke? Because it wasn't funny! Kakashi, I thought you were in trouble or-!"

Iruka huffed angrily, and embarrassed blush rising to his cheeks. The magician took a step forward, hands raised in a placating gesture. Iruka was momentarily overwhelmed by his scent once more- leaves and water, darkness, stones… and something different, something that was making him appreciate the darkening sky and all its blush-hiding glory.

"I apologize… but it _did_ get you to call me Kakashi."

Iruka narrowed his eyes and lifted his lip to reveal a sliver of fang.

"…Uhm, so it's about time to get headed to Goro, don't you think?" he chuckled nervously, "Tell you what- let's make it a race."

"And what does the winner get?" Iruka asked suspiciously, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You'll have to win and find out, now won't you?"

Kakashi tilted his head playfully, the slight shift bringing his eyes into a bar of moonlight. Iruka found himself distracted, the million little noises and smells of the forest temporarily drowned out by those eyes. One was the color and coolness of water at night, and one was the color of blood fresh from the kill, shinning and radiating carnal _heat_-

"On the count of three."

Iruka blinked.

"Uh, yeah, count of three," he answered distantly.

"One," counted Kakashi.

"Wait a second," said Iruka.

"Two."

"What _does_ the winner get? What exactly am I agreeing to?!"

"_Three_."

"_Kakashi!_"

Iruka sprang forward, all traces of annoyance and worry soon erased by the thrill of the sprint. His feet and hands (newly clawed) were a blur underneath him as he raced from branch to branch. He leapt down onto the forest floor, sprang back up into the trees, and repeated the process in an exhilarating refrain. Wind rushed past his ears and assaulted his nose with a vivid new olfactory world.

He remembered researching about wolves before the first time he'd turned, when the transformation was just another thing his parents liked to warn him about… like puberty. He'd read somewhere that wolves were made for this, made for the run.

He could feel the moon shining above him.

"Better speed it up, Iruka-sensei! You don't want me to catch up, do you?"

Iruka looked over his shoulder, laughing. Kakashi was a few yards behind him, sticking to the upper branches and treetops. His hair flashed a brilliant silver in the butter yellow light of the moon, and the look in his eyes mirrored the one Iruka often found on his own face during nights like these. They were the eyes of a predator.

Iruka _did_ speed up, then. His instincts were telling him that, at the moment, this wasn't a race. It was a chase. The kind of chase that his parents had once warned him about before engaging him in a very memorable discussion about birds, bees, bees with feathers, birds with stingers, and the various combinations thereof.

_This should bother me a lot more than it is_, he thought. It was a lonely thought, because his mind was busy reveling in the feeling of blood pounding through his veins, the ground rushing beneath him, and a more heated version of a feeling he'd only ever felt with his parents, and, later, with a student that had since become like a little brother to him. The closest any word came to describing it was _pack_.

It was a good feeling. Really good. It swelled within him like a fire, driving him to run faster and faster, until it seemed he was traveling in a tunnel. Leaves and trees and the black sky above streaked by, but, miraculously, Kakashi was still just behind him.

Iruka howled, long and clear, laughing breathlessly as the pack he'd smelled earlier howled back in a chorus of playful, curious voices.

"Catch me of you can!"

He darted up to the upper levels of the trees directly in front of Kakashi, waving his tail from side to side in a taunting manner.

"Again," Kakashi called out evenly, "you say _I'm_ the tease?"

Iruka snorted, a grin still plastered on his face. He'd have to slow down soon. Kakashi was definitely using magic, because he wasn't even out of breath. He was beginning to catch whiffs of the town, though, so if he could just keep going a little longer, maybe he could win…

Suddenly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up, and shivers raced down his back to the tip of his tail.

His ears flattened. Something wasn't right.

"Iruka, stop!" barked Kakashi.

Iruka tried, but inertia carried him forward. The tree branch he was about to land on, he knew suddenly, was tree-branch-colored and tree-branch-shaped, but not _not_ _**NOT**_ a tree branch! He began to call Kakashi's name, but interrupted himself with a yelp when the not-tree-branch touched his skin.

It burned. It seared his hand worse and worse until he could smell his flesh burning, making him nauseous. The pain spread through him in a blinding white flash, so excruciatingly dazzling he was forced to shut his eyes…

oOo

When he opened them, he saw his mother.

_No_, he thought fuzzily, _not her_. And it wasn't. As his vision cleared, the image of his mother melted away, replaced by someone much younger, someone with infinitely paler skin, someone who smelled like ice. A young woman in silk robes. She stared down at him. He was lying down? He frowned up at her, confusion in his eyes.

"Where am I?"

She smiled.

He tried to sit up, but found that he couldn't. His wrists were bound and held above his head. Panic rising in his chest, he struggled to move his legs. They were stuck tight. He peered down at them., trying to assess the extent to which he was screwed, only to see that nothing visible was binding him. _Damn it all! _he thought wildly, _These binds are magical!_

He growled at the girl, thrashing against the ground. He was in a large clearing, from what he could tell. He could smell water nearby, and hear the trickling of water over stones. His eyes widened. Where was Kakashi? Was he safe? Fear began to course through him, acidic and raw. He needed to find Kakashi!

Iruka snarled at the girl and _snarled_, eyes narrowed hatefully. A confluence of anger, panic and fear ripped from his throat in a sound that was primitively _evil_, a sound Iruka would've shuddered to hear come from himself or any other creature else under any other circumstances.

The girl's eyes widened briefly, but her face soon settled into perfect blankness.

"_Let me go!_" he barked, thrashing uselessly against the invisible binds.

"Quiet, mutt."

Iruka stilled, startled by the new voice. It was deep, a little hoarse, and redolent of something diabolic. He became aware of a stench of rust, old blood and mist. Heavy footsteps sounded behind him, just out of sight.

"Who are you?" he demanded, twisting his neck to see who the new comer was.

"Like I'd tell a mutt like you."

The man stepped directly beside Iruka and stared down in contempt.

Iruka stared back.

The man was a demon. Iruka could tell, not because of the way scars littered his heavily muscled chest and stomach, a multitude of scars that no natural living being could bear. Not because of his scent, which, in addition to the scent of old blood and rust, carried the bitter stench of ceaseless hate. It was because of his eyes. They peered down at him above a mask of white bandages that seemed to Iruka a pathetic imitation of Kakashi's. They were eyes that burned, with bloodlust, with violence.

They were eyes that lacked humanity.

"Master, I've completed the preparations," said the robed girl, voice quiet and… a tad deep?

Iruka's eyes widened as they flitted back to the young woman. _No, _he corrected himself,_ that was definitely a boy's voice. _

The demon nodded.

"Good. Alright, mutt- ready to die?"

Iruka's lips tightened into a thin line as his mind raced. He had to buy time!

"Why are you doing this?" he blurted.

The demon narrowed his eyes in disgust.

"Not that it matters to _you_, but I recently acquired a new sword. It needs magical blood to awaken to its full power. Luckily for _me_," he bent down and grabbed a handful of Iruka's hair and pulled, chuckling briefly when Iruka grunted in pain, "This is the one day of the year all the freaks come out. You should be honored that you get to be the one to first to shed bled on this beauty."

He released his hold and made to grab for something- his sword, Iruka guessed miserably.

Midway through the movement, the demon paused.

"Sharingan," he spat, looking up and past Iruka.

The teacher suppressed a whimper of confusion. Sharingan? He didn't see anybody else. He couldn't smell anything but water, stones, leaves, darkness, and… wait…

_Kakashi? _

"Well if it isn't the infamous Zabuza, Demon of the Mist," drawled a familiar voice.

_**OH, THANK THE KAMI!**_ thought Iruka, struggling to keep his tail from wagging. A blessedly cool feeling of relief seeped through him, clearing his mind of panic. He rolled a bit and craned his neck. Hatake Kakashi, magician extraordinaire, waved sheepishly at him.

"Sensei," he greeted. "I see you've gotten yourself into quite the bind."

Iruka's eye twitched.

"Can the puns and _un_bind me, please, if that's not too much trouble?"

"I'm afraid I can't allow that," interrupted the boy in robes. There was a rustle of silk, a rustle of leaves, and Iruka could no longer sense the boy. He could smell him, though, and hear a sound like crackling ice echoing through the leaves-

"Stop," commanded the demon.

The ice sounds halted, but the boy remained hidden, ready to strike.

"Sharingan, the Copycat-fucking-sellout," sneered the demon. "I've heard of you. Who paid you to come get me? The cowards at that pathetic little shack?"

The demon laughed disdainfully, and Iruka heard him pull something large from the earth. The sword! _Shit_. He discreetly began to roll away from where the swordsman was standing. A long, cruel needle of ice plummeted from somewhere in the leaves and landed an inch before his nose. He froze.

"They were asking for it," the demon continued, hefting the sword into the air.

Iruka, who had managed at least to roll onto his side, could clearly see him now. The sword in his hand was broad and flat, with a half-circle approximately the size of a human head cut out on the blade's edge. _It would be perfect_, Iruka thought with detached horror, _for decapitating someone_.

"Why tempt me with such a beautiful weapon if they can't even protect it? Weaklings!"

Iruka turned his attention to Kakashi. His slouch was gone, replaced by a fighting stance. Something was different about his red eye. There were- marks, now? Three black marks in the red, like little commas, slowly beginning to rotate around the pupil. _What in the seven hells?_

Zabuza laughed humorlessly.

"So you want to play hero? Fine. You've granted me the honor of revealing the Sharingan eye- I'll grant you the honor of waking my sword with your blood!"

He lunged forward, the sword sweeping out towards Kakashi in a hiss of air. Kakashi ducked under the sword and attempted to strike at Zabuza's stomach, only to be blocked by the demon's free arm and pushed roughly away. Zabuza swung the monstrous sword up above his head.

"Don't tell me that's the best you can do," he spat.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the man, Sharingan rotating a little faster.

"I'm going to give you this chance to step away," said Kakashi, drawing two daggers from his belt and twirling them expertly. The weapons glowed with an eerie green luminance. "If you'll just return the sword," he continued, "We can be on our way."

"Are you insulting me?" Zabuza roared, stalking towards the magician.

The demon slashed his sword and violently ripped into the trunk of a thick pine. _What was the point of that?_ Iruka wondered, watching as the tree leaned over with a groan, plummeting down, down, down… towards him. Shit.

Kakashi was there in a streak of scarlet and black, and several warm, slightly disorientating seconds later, Iruka found himself at the other end of the clearing, Kakashi crouched over him. His eyes had gone hard, and his Sharingan was spinning at a dizzying rate. Eyes fixed on the demon before him, Kakashi pulled out his daggers once more.

"Spelled blades? Those won't touch me," sneered Zabuza. "Face it. This is the end for you and your _bitch_."

Kakashi advanced with a growl, daggers clutched in both hands as he sprinted in for a direct attack. The demon released a blood curdling laugh. Eyes shinning with something Iruka could only describe as madness, Zabuza brought the monstrous sword down in an arc that flashed in the moonlight, gashing Kakashi from the tip of his shoulder to just above the edge of his hip.

Iruka saw red.

He howled- a feral, desperate sound that ripped into the night. He struggled as he howled, bucking against the invisible bonds with renewed fervor, wrists and legs straining painfully against the unseen force. He gasped for breath, watching as the silver haired figure slumped to the ground. _No_, he thought frantically. _No. No. No._

Zabuza glared down at the figure in disgust. With a shake of his head, he raised the huge sword vertically into the air, and Iruka watched, unable to breath, unable to move, mind blank, as the demon began to bring it down-

"_**STOP!**_"

The scream echoed from the trees. It was the robed boy, out of hiding. A look of terror distorted his feminine features. _The hell? _His eyes darted back to the demon, who was now standing, sword poised, before a rotting log. Shadows shifted behind him. Something flared blue and white, bright as lightning. Iruka squinted against the glare. He watched as the demon began to turn around, but then the light became too bright, and he was forced to close his eyes.

His ears filled with the sound of a thousand screeching birds.

He blinked as the sound faded, finding himself staring into a cloud of dust and dirt. He tested his binds- there was still resistance, but it seemed weaker. He tugged his wrists viciously in opposite directions, grinning triumphantly when they separated with a brief flicker of smoke. _Yes!_

He pried apart his legs the same way, simultaneously peering into the cloud. As it settled, he made out the supine form of Zabuza, blood leaking from a large, charred crater in his stomach onto the dirt. Kakashi stood before him, bowed with exhaustion, clutching his left hand to his chest.

_He's hurt._

"Ka- _Sharingan_, are you injured?" Iruka called.

Kakashi looked up at him and froze.

Iruka stood absolutely still. A dagger of ice pressed against the side of his neck. The robed boy pressed down until a single tendril of blood trickled wetly down his skin. He felt like slamming his head against something hard. Repeatedly.

_And the Dumbass of the Night Award goes to: Umino Iruka, the idiot who gave away his position!_

"Don't move," the boy ordered Kakashi. Iruka held his breath against the boy's scent, unable to bear the smell of ice mingling with the sulphurous scent of hate and despair. He suppressed a wince as the boy pressed the point deeper into his skin.

"You are going to watch," the boy continued, "Like _I_ had to watch. You are going to **pay**."

Kakashi slowly straightened, shadows hiding his eyes.

"You can still walk away." said Kakashi. "I don't want to fight you."

_Even I can tell he's exhausted_, Iruka thought dolefully. He swallowed, anxiety sending his senses into overdrive. They overwhelmed him for a few seconds- the cold burn of ice against his skin, the smells of the battle, the smells of the forest at night, the sound of nightbirds and insects and the baying of wolves speeding toward the clearing… He blinked.

Brown ears swiveled frantically as Kakashi and the boy stared each other down, the magician reaching for his daggers. He could hear them clearly now, and from the sound of it…

'Stall!' he mouthed to Kakashi, praying to any spirits that would listen that the man could lip read.

The magician hesitated, hands lingering above the handles of his weapons.

'Just stall! Trust me!'

Kakashi let his hands fall to his sides and fixed the robed boy with a mismatched stare.

"He's going to bleed to death if you let him lie there, Haku."

"Shut up!" Haku gripped the ice dagger tighter, leveling Kakashi with a glare that would freeze a lesser man.

"How do you know my name?" he demanded.

"Magic."

"I'll kill him!" cried Haku, producing another ice dagger with his free hand and pulling back, preparing to strike.

His hand disappeared in a gleaming nest of teeth.

The boy screamed, but the sound was interrupted as powerful jaws clamped around the back of his neck. While Iruka made his escape, Haku stabbed blindly at his opponents, only to find his weapons grazing fur. Twisting bodies lunged at him, then dodged his swipes as others lunged in their place. His grunts were drowned out by a cacophony of growls and barks.

Iruka scrambled over to Kakashi, who was hefting up Zabuza's sword and beginning to strap it to his back.

"Are you okay? Your hand is burned! You look exhausted, is there anything I ca-"

"You're bleeding," Kakashi interrupted.

"I- what?"

"You. Are. _Bleeding_."

The teacher suddenly became aware of a tingling sensation on his throat, where the dagger had pierced. The magician was staring the wound intently, the moonlight reflecting something dangerous in his eyes. Iruka wondered why it was suddenly so hard to breathe.

A sound like shattering glass boomed through the air. Iruka spun around, lowering into a defensive crouch, only to find that where Zabuza once lay and where Haku once stood there was nothing but shattered panes of ice. The wolves mulled around in confusion for a moment, yipping and barking excitedly, before they were silenced by the rumbling growl of a large female the color of coal.

She strode towards Iruka purposefully, ears forward, tail high in the air. Iruka dropped to his knees and bowed deeply.

_Thank you so much._

'Oi, pup, stop that!' she demanded, voice gravelly, 'You woulda done the same fer any of us, yeah?'

"Of course," replied Iruka, quickly sitting up.

He chose to ignore her odd accent. The she-wolf wagged her tail and swung her snout to the left, gesturing at the seven wolves behind her.

'Name's Rikiko,' she said. 'These are the girls. We're from the south. Thought we'd come up here on a game run.'

"Ladies," Iruka greeted, standing and offering a bow to the pack, wondering at the fact that

A) He'd just gotten his ass saved by an all-female pack

B) They were sure to brag about it

and

C) He would never live it down… but at least the same went for Kakashi.

"We really appreciate what you did for us," gushed Iruka, pushing those thoughts to the side, "Is there any way we can repay you?"

Rikiko cocked her head to the side, then barked an affirmation.

'Yeah, could ya do yerself a favor an' lighten up on the wolfsbane? Give it time. The buildup's gonna have ya heavin' yer guts out one day. It'll make ya real sick, pup. Take it from an old girl- go wild!'

She laughed at her own joke, the rest of the pack joining in. A drop of sweat worked its way onto Iruka's forehead. _There's_ _just no escape from the puns, is there?_

"Uh, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for everything, Rikiko-san."

The alpha wolf grinned at him in the toothy wolf fashion, tongue lolling out, tail wagging.

'No problem, pup.'

She turned to her pack.

'Ya'll bitches ready to down some _real_ game?'

She was answered with a pandemonium of barks, howls, and excited yips. She led them to the edge of the clearing, a swarming mass of frenzied lupine forms, then paused.

'Oi, pup!' she called, 'Ya know lover boy over there's got it in for ya, don't ya? Well, yamight wanna watch yer tail!'

She sprinted off in a storm of fur and bellowing laughter, leaving an embarrassed and blushing Iruka with a confused magician. Kakashi raised one silver brow, observing the sanguine state of Iruka's complexion.

"Do I want to know?"

"No. You don't."

Rikiko hadn't been speaking in human tongue, although she could've. Iruka wasn't eager to translate her half of the conversation.

"Shall we go, then? I _was_ hired by the magic shop, by the way."

"That's fine. I need to have a few choice words for the management."

oOo

Iruka's nails dug into the wooden counter as he leaned forward, noting with satisfaction that the slight man behind it was wide-eyed with fear. He'd more or less chased the man throughout the shop- across the dull stone floor, past wooden shelves lined with gaudy curiosities, dodging between barrels of animal parts, herbs and books, and now he finally had the man cornered…

"…so you're saying you didn't think it was necessary to inform me of the possible ramifications of toxin buildup?" he hissed.

The man cowered.

"S-sir, we, uhm, there were certain _costs_ involved in that proces-"

"So you're saying it was too _expensive_ to tell me my health was in danger? Is that it?"

"N-no, no! Certainly not! I-it's just that we need the steady income, an-"

"But you had enough money to hire a mercenary?"

"T-that's _different_!"

Iruka bared his teeth. The man fainted.

"Ah, sensei? I think you've made your point. Is the healing salve working?"

"Yes, wonderfully, thank you."

Iruka straightened up and turned to face the magician, smiling warmly. Kakashi returned the smile and approached Iruka, hands behind his back as if holding something. Iruka's ears perked forward curiously. He sniffed, but he couldn't smell anything new.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Guess," answered Kakashi, taking another step forward.

Iruka took a step back, brows furrowed in confusion. _He's up to something again_, he thought. Kakashi took another step forward, edging Iruka back until his waist was pressing against the wooden counter. The smells he'd come to associate with Kakashi flooded his nose, making it hard to focus. _Has he no sense of personal space?_

"K-Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"You're very, er… close."

Kakashi chuckled, leaning even closer.

"Iruka-kun, one of these days I'm going to give you my sense of humor. Still no guesses?"

"Uhm… a thimble?"

"Close. Close your eyes and I'll show you."

The rustle of fabric against skin was all the warning Iruka had before a firm pair of lips settled against his. They were a thin, and warm, and the skin was incredibly soft. _Probably from the mask_, he thought hazily. Iruka let his tongue slip out to taste the magician's bottom lip. Kakashi eagerly responded, adding to the kiss until Kakashi had him pressed tightly against the counter, hands roaming, both of them breathless and lost in warmth, wanting _more_.

The feeling was back, the good one. He'd found his pack. It felt extraordinary. Iruka nipped playfully at Kakashi's lip and pulled back, panting

"Kakashi?"

"Mmm?"

"I think I like you. Is that okay?"

"Oh, sensei, there's nothing to be afraid of," Kakashi teased, dropping light kisses on the corner of his mouth, "I don't bite."

"Really?"

Iruka whined.

Kakashi paused, then grinned a wide, wolfish grin.

"But for you? Always."

oOo

_fin_

oOo

**Thanks so much for reading! Please review? Coulda sucked less if…? Rocked because…? I wish I had a cookie because if I did…?**


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